You may be hearing some soulful tunes emanating from a corner in Squirrel Hill in the near future, thanks to our latest grantwinner, Busk Street Stage. Eric Sloss is the man behind this idea; an artist, writer and creative strategist for Shift Collaborative, he started a busker advocacy program for buskers over a decade ago but is now reworking the effort to be more performance-based. Busk Street Stage is an effort of Busker Street Union, a program of Shift Collaborative.

Busking, or street performing, is a centuries-old tradition of entertainers performing for tips in public areas. Buskers attract the public into an area and encourage them to browse from performer to store to restaurant and back to performer. This creates a mutually beneficial commercial environment for the stores, performers and the public. According to Sloss:

“Public performance enlivens city streets, makes urban areas safer because of the activity, and provides an alternative venue to those who traditionally perform indoors. With the wonderful support of Awesome Pittsburgh we will be able to explore new ways to support those performers who want to take to the streets and make our city neighborhoods sing.”

As a way to encourage street performance in Pittsburgh, Busk Street Stage will brand and build an outdoor area in which diverse performers will have the freedom to perform on city streets legally. They plan to work with local civic leaders, the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh in Squirrel Hill and NextGen:Pgh to build and promote the effort. This will offer a safe place for performers to busk and find new audiences. Awesome Pittsburgh trustee Pete Maher recaps:

“Awesome Pittsburgh is proud to support Busk Street Stage and its efforts to preserve the centuries-old tradition of street performance.  Buskers play an important role in vitalizing the streets of Pittsburgh, and we hope that our grant will help support local performers, provide a meaningful source of public entertainment, and draw audiences to local business districts.”

Money will go toward building an outdoor staging area on the corner of Murray and Forbes Avenues, with additional support going toward promotion and performer recruitment. The hope is to launch the stage by late May. Shift Collaborative also hopes to deploy stages in more area neighborhoods. Email Eric Sloss if your community is interested in hosting a street stage.